Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

This week I’m going to be highlighting some pumpkin recipes. Similar to the cupcake week I did back in August, I’m kicking off A Week of Pumpkin. Be sure to check back every day this week for a new pumpkin recipe.

I’ve been out of the habit of making muffins. I used to do it on a weekly basis so Hubby and I would have something to take into work for breakfast. In honor of A Week of Pumpkin, I wanted to do at least one pumpkin muffin. I searched for a recipe and stumbled upon this one. I like the addition of the cranberries.

I opted to leave the struesel topping off. I’m not a big fan and the muffins were great without it. I did sprinkle some cinnamon sugar and some freshly ground nutmeg on top of the muffins prior to baking them. Hubby said these were the best muffins I’ve ever made!

Directions:

Put oven in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Put liners in muffin cups.

For the streusel topping: in a medium bowl, stir together the flour, spices, and brown sugar. Add the butter pieces and combine the mixture with a fork until the topping resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside. (I skipped this step)

Mix the flour and baking powder together in a small bowl.

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, spices, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth. Whisk in flour mixture and dried cranberries until just combined.

Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about three-fourths full), then sprinkle tops with streusel mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown and wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 25 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack five minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.